


2am Mac and Cheese

by WaffleChocobo



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety and Minor Insomnia mentioned, Fluff, M/M, Modern Era, Roommates, This fic is very cheesy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:01:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27799657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaffleChocobo/pseuds/WaffleChocobo
Summary: Sometimes Dimitri finds he can't sleep. On the nights where this happens (which is more often then he would like to admit) He wanders into the kitchen to make his comfort food:Mac and Cheese. Not every night of cooking is the same though this is a story of two different nights before and after getting together with Claude.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 37





	2am Mac and Cheese

It was 2am but Dimitri couldn’t sleep. His anxiety filled nightmares had clawed too deep into his head for any more sleep tonight. Even if he couldn’t go back to bed he needed to calm down. So as quietly as possible, he got up and snuck into the kitchen. Dimitri went to the cupboard and pulled out a box of mac and cheese. He kept several on the upper shelves for nights like these. It happened more then he liked to admit. Dimitri started the water boiling and focused on his breathing; he hoped that he was being quiet enough not to wake his roommate. He had just added the macaroni when the other bedroom door opened. Claude walked out with a yawn. Dimitri sighed; he had tried to be quiet but it seemed like he’d failed at that miserably. Claude didn’t seem upset, but Dimitri did feel bad. Before he could apologize Claude spoke first.

“Oo Late night cooking huh? What ya makin?” Dimitri felt rather self conscious. 

“Sorry did I wake you up?” Claude shook his head. 

“Nah I was up researching, ya know Belladona, Henbane and the like.” Dimitri didn’t know what any of those were. Usually he would assume he was being lied to but that did sound like something Claude would do. He felt less guilty. Claude was known for staying up rather late to research whatever strange interests he was focused on at the moment. It was one of the reasons he had agreed to be his roommate after all. Can’t feel guilty about waking someone who’s already awake.

“Is that Mac and Cheese? Have you been hiding these from me?” Dimitri shook his head.

“I’ve hidden nothing. I just stored them on the higher shelves.” Claude gave him a stare that signaled he didn’t believe him. 

“So why are you making mac and cheese at—” Claude looked at the kitchens wall clock Dimitri had been making a point to avoid. “—2:15 am.” Dimitri didn't have a good answer. He put it off answering until he pulled out the strainer.

"I've lost control of my life." Dimitri made a point not to look at Claude while he poured out the macaroni into the strainer. The water neatly disappeared into the sink. _That would be nice._ Dimitri thought then had to shake that off. He had been working on being more positive. _Think of the mac and cheese not your failures._

"Makes sense. That happens. Though I usually plot murder not mac and cheese." Claude replied in a tone Dimitri wasn't sure whether or not he was being mocked. Dimitri glanced at Claude to check and instead noticed something else. Claude was wearing a shirt that looked two sizes too big. A shirt that Dimitri distinctly remembered looking for yesterday.

“Claude why are wearing my shirt?” Claude replied casually, acting as if this situation was normal. 

"Needed some pajama’s. Your clothes work way better than mine as sleepwear." That was strange but it did make a degree of sense. Claude in his clothes was nice; cute even which was a thought that Dimitri chose not to focus on. Instead grabbed butter from the fridge, and noticed a wrench in his plans: there was no milk. 

"Cream would work instead of milk, right?" He didn't mean to voice that aloud but Claude was a chemistry major so that seemed like something he would know.

"It should be fine. Do it!" On that command Dimitri grabbed the cream and began to mix it with the butter in the pot. Halfway through he remembered the macaroni and added it along with the cheese packet. He mixed the gooey mixture together probably longer than needed, but mixing was something he had always found calming. Perhaps that was a byproduct of it often being the task he was assigned when helping others cook; or maybe the repetitive motion was nice. Dimitri didn't know but chose not to dwell on it. The smell of cheese powder was wonderful. If Claude wasn't here, he would just eat it out of the pan, but he didn't want Claude to think he was anymore pathetic, so Dimitri pulled out a bowl.

"Do you want some?” Dimitri offered, he didn't have much energy to spare playing host, but he could grab an extra bowl.

"Sure," Claude took the spoon from Dimitri's hand and took a couple bites. Dimitri didn't know how to interpret this. It seemed kinda intimate sharing a spoon, but maybe Claude just wanted to save on dish washing. Yeah that made sense. They could share he could deal with that. Even though he could feel his pulse getting louder and his cheeks heating up. Dimitri moved to sit down at the table, to give his legs a break. Claude followed him and nearly gave Dimitri a heart attack as he sat in Dimitri’s lap.

"Hmm love me some mac and cheese." Dimitri was going to die. Why did he have to have a crush on his roommate who didn't know boundaries. 

"Dimi, you’re not eating? Need me to feed you? It’s only fair since your my current chair." Every word out of his mouth was dripping in mischief…. and something else. Dimitri shook his head. 

"No-not that there's anything wrong with it. My lap probably isn't that comfortable..." Claude shook his head. 

"Nah I think right here is the comfiest I could ever be." _What? What did that mean? Huh?_

“Oh okay.” Dimitri couldn’t think of any other reply. Claude gave him a questioning look, Dimitri was trying really hard not to think about any of this. 

“Got anything to say to that?” Claude seemed to want an answer Dimitri’s brain wasn’t able to provide right now.

“What?”

“Dimitri, I’m flirting with you.” Dimitri felt like he pulled a muscle from the whiplash that statement gave his brain.

“You, are?” Dimitri still wasn’t sure this was really happening.

“Yeah… have been for months.” Claude scooped up another spoonful of mac and cheese.

Dimitri stole the spoon before it reached his mouth and took a bit of mac and cheese to calm down.

“Oh.” Dimitri’s brain was still working on that information when Claude laughed. 

“Have you really not noticed?” Dimitri started three different responses before finally admitting. 

“I assumed that was just a Claude thing, and you would like someone better than me. Especially since..” Dimitri cut himself off words were never his strong suit, especially at 2 in the morning. 

“Since? You gonna give me an answer big man?” Despite the obvious joke there was tension in his voice. 

“Yes.” He quickly replied Claude raised a brow.

“Yes? ilikeyou…was that not clear?” He unintentionally said quickly. 

“As clear as mine was.” Claude seemed relieved at least.

“I suppose that’s fair.” Neither of them had the clearest cut confession. 

“Dimi I stole your clothes.” It seemed like a small mischief he would do to be charming but he wasn’t going to tell Claude that.

“You talked about doing that with Hilda.” He provided in his defense instead.

“As a joke,” he had the brightest smile, “Well, we’ll work on it.” 

“Hopefully not this early in the morning.” Dimitri felt anxious; not the awful kind that had woken him up, but a nervous excited kind.

“Here have a celebratory bite.” Claude fed him a spoonful of mac and cheese before he could get another word in. Just as Dimitri was in the middle of chewing, Claude moved and kissed him. It was a quick peck, but Dimitri for the first time in years had never felt more awake.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— One year later. 

Dimitri woke up with adrenaline and anxiety. It had been a while since this happened, Since sleeping next to Claude calmed him down enough to get a consistent 5 hours most nights. But he supposed this was to be expected: fears and doubt only lessened, never faded. Dimitri laid there for a few minutes, tossing and turning, then gave up. As smoothly as possible, he slipped out of Claude's grip and made his way to the kitchen. Dimitri pulled out a pan and was in the middle of grabbing the box when he heard a sudden, firm "No." Claude stormed in well as best as he could wearing Dimitri’s clothes. It was hard to be intimidating in such baggy clothes, plus his tussled hair made him look cute even with a scowl.

“No?” Dimitri wondered if Claude was fully awake. Claude took the box from him and pointed to a pan hanging from the ceiling. 

"My boyfriend deserves better than a box." Dimitri pulled down the pan and Claude started rummaging through a pile of papers on the table. 

"So we’re going to try and make it?" Claude nodded and went back to looking for something in his mess of documents. Finally he pulled out a small card and proudly held it out.

"I managed to procure the recipe Dedue used for your birthday." Claude scrutinized the hand-written note and started pulling out ingredients. Dimitri was touched at the effort, but this seemed like a lot of time and energy to spend on his insomnia snacks. 

"I'm fine with a box, Claude. We don't have to make it from scratch, though thank you for thinking of me." Claude didn't reply and just gave him a look that said yes they had to, so Dimitri gave in. He walked over to the pile of ingredients being put on the table. 

"How do we start?” Claude looked it over once more. 

“First the pasta, we’ve mastered that, I think.” Dimitri filled the pot with water and was about to grab the macaroni. Claude pulled out some bowtie shaped pasta.

"Should we make it fancy?" Dimitri held the pan out so Claude could add some different shapes.

"Fancy mac and cheese, See?" Dimitri, without thinking, took one out of the bag and held it up to Claude's neck.

“There, now your fancy too." Claude’s laugh was the most lovely thing he had ever heard, and he got to hear it quite a bit now. It never got old. Claude quickly picked it up and started eating it.

“These taste better cooked, you know.” Claude ignored him and continued to snack on uncooked pasta. Dimitri leaned back on the counter as he waited for the pasta to cook. Suddenly, Claude grabbed his arm and leaned into it. 

“So, what was it tonight?” Dimitri couldn’t recall; he wasn’t sure if he wanted to. The feeling was there. A stark, clear dread and a horrible tragedy that was all his fault.

“I can’t remember the details. Just the feelings, really.” Claude looked at at him as if he was searching for a lie. Dimitri felt very exposed under Claude’s stare, it wasn’t bad, but he always felt like Claude could see through his lies. Perhaps he was just bad at lying. 

“Alright, If you’re sure.. but you can wake me up when you need it. Doesn’t matter how late. You don’t have to sneak out by yourself anymore.” Claude maintained eye contact. Dimitri still felt a bit uncomfortable about disturbing Claude’s sleep, but he couldn’t say no to that level of honesty and care.

“Alright, I’ll remember that. Though please let me know If you want to sleep.” Dimitri promised. Claude nodded but still kept him locked in his eyes. 

“Promise?” Claude’s voice was surprisingly quiet. 

“I promise.” Dimitri would have to change his habits once again, but this year had taught him sometimes change wasn’t bad.

“Alright, I’ll hold you to that. Now looks like the pasta’s done so it’s straining time.” Claude strained the pasta as Dimitri grabbed a bowl to put it aside in. 

“Now it’s time for the hard part.” Claude grabbed the card again and held it up so Dimitri could look at it. Ah now he understood. This card was written by Dedue alright, and it was instructions for a chef not two people who just cooked casually.While there were some exact measurements, several ingredients seemed to just have a number he made up on the spot or just an unsure descriptive. The most glaring example being the first one. It read: _Two handfuls of cheese. About a cup?_

“Do you think two handfuls of our hands would be the same as Dedue’s?” That was a good question. 

“I have no idea. I’ve never thought about Dedue’s hands. Should we just use the cup measurement?” Dimitri read down the paper, everything else had more specific measurements, or at least a smaller margin of error. 

“Oh it's the last ingredient, so we have time to figure it out.” That didn’t seem to break Claudes concentration.

“Too bad we can’t text him.” Claude sighed as he continued trying to decipher the right amount. Claude’s forehead was getting more wrinkled by the second as he tried to figure out what that could mean. Dimitri doubted even if they asked him they could get a clear answer Dedue tended to just eyeball almost every recipe. This wouldn’t do at all. Dimitri turned off the stove and walked over to Claude. Dimitri pulled Claude into his chest. 

“You’re stressing too much.” Dimitri whispered into his ear and starting running his fingers through Claude’s soft, wild hair. Claude squirmed, trying to still read the paper. 

“No, I have to figure this out. I can do it.” Claude insisted. Dimitri shook his head.

“You’re thinking too hard, this is supposed to be nice and easy.” Dimitri pulled the card, causing it to fall to the floor, then tightened his hold so Claude couldn’t grab it again. 

“I’ll get the box since this is too much stress.” Dimitri declared as he rubbed circles into Claude’s back.That seemed to do the trick as he could feel Claude start slowly snuggling up into his chest, seeming far less tense then he was a moment ago. Dimitri started running his hand through Claude’s hair again to tried and get rid of the rest of the tension. He didn’t know how long they were there curled up together leaning against the counter but it was nice. Dimitri felt himself getting a little sleepy but not quite enough to head back to bed yet. Claude was the first to break the silence.

“Hey now, this is supposed to be about comforting you not me.” Dimitri supposed he was right but that didn’t matter.

“This is very nice.” Dimitri closed his eyes.

“Should we finish up before dawn surprises us?” Dimitri leaned his head on top of Claude’s. 

“In a minute let’s stay right here a bit longer.” 

“Well I have an idea. We could look at the group shots from Halloween and try to figure out the hand difference.” Claude repositioned himself probably, to grab his phone. 

“I wouldn’t mind looking at pictures with you, but I don’t think it matters. Mac and Cheese can never have too much cheese.” Claude paused at that. 

“You have a point. Alright, we gotta make the sauce. We can continue this after.” Dimitri let go and turned back to the pot as Claude picked up the card. 

“So first is a tablespoon of butter, put it in the pan and melt it. Melt it down, exactly as I do every morning when I look in your eyes.” Claude leaned on the counter as he said such extravagant things as if it just a fact.

“Claude!” Dimitri felt his face get red; he hadn’t been expecting that. 

“We’ve been dating for a year yet you’re still not ready for compliments?”

“You caught me by surprise.” Claude smiled and shook his head as the butter melted.

“Next, season it with salt and pepper.” Dimitri went to the table to grab the salt and pepper shakers.

“How much?” He grabbed the pepper first and was holding it up waiting.

“It doesn’t say.” That was to be expected with the recipe at this point.

“Should we just do a little then?” Dimitri ground a path of pepper and then followed that trail with salt.That way they might be even. Hopefully. Dimitri wasn’t the best at seasoning. Claude walked over and dumped flour into the pan. 

“Flour in to thicken that right up. Now milk.” Dimitri mixed as Claude grabbed the milk from the fridge. Claude poured in an amount Dimitri hoped that was measured but perhaps Claude took his advice of relaxing a little too seriously. He wasn’t going to say anything. 

“Stir it until thickens turn off heat then add cheese.” Claude reads the final instructions with a sense of doubt. Dimitri diligently followed the instructions and was surprisedwhen the sauce did thicken and began look more like what he remembered.

“Now it’s time, for cheese.” Dimitri grabbed the shredded cheddar.

“Two handfuls?” He questioned as his hand hovered full of cheese over the pan. 

“Listen to your heart. It knows how much cheese this needs even if we don’t.” Claude joked, so Dimitri decided to do two and a half just to be safe. He stirred the cheese and watched as it slowly melted, until there was just one singular sauce. 

“Well, despite the vagueness of the directions, we managed it.” Claude seemed pleased with their success. Dimitri poured the sauce over the pasta and did a final stir as Claude grabbed a spoon. He was to lazy too get a bowl, so he just used the pot the pasta was in. They took both out of the kitchen and over to couch. They curled up on the couch taking turns eating or sharing spoonfuls of their homemade mac and cheese. It did taste better. He wouldn’t mind doing this again.

“Feeling better?” Claude asked after they ate a quarter of the pot.

“Much. This really hits the spot.” Despite his nightmares and the lack of sleep, this was the warmest morning he’d ever had. He hoped they had many more.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for squigs for the DimiClaude Exchange. This was supposed to just be a domestic cooking but the first part jumped into my head and I decided to include it. Its a little silly but I hope you liked it. Also Henbane is a poison if you were wondering.


End file.
